If brilliance has a drawback, it lies in the sense of anti-climax when exalted standards are not met. Wolves produced arguably their outstanding result and performance of the campaign in winning at West Ham on Tuesday; Everton excelled in defeating Manchester City 24 hours later. With neither capable of replicating that display, a creditable result for both clubs nonetheless appeared underwhelming.

As two sides managed by former central defenders proved resolute enough to keep a clean sheet, they were respectable rather than remarkable. Unbeaten runs were extended – Everton have now been defeated twice in 18 games while Wolves' last four matches have yielded eight points – but perspiration was more evident than inspiration. "It wasn't a spectacle," David Moyes admitted.

At least the Everton manager's side supplied some invention. Deep into added time, a typical demonstration of improvisation from Tim Cahill resulted in an overhead kick that Jody Craddock cleared off the Wolves line. It was part of a stirring finale in a match featuring fine saves from Marcus Hahnemann.

"He's terrific," Mick McCarthy said. "He has been since getting into the side."

The American thwarted Dan Gosling at the end, flinging himself at the Everton substitute after Cahill had headed the ball into his path. His defiance had been apparent in the fifth minute when he palmed away an effort from Leon Osman.

It was the culmination of the finest move of the match as the Wolves defence was exquisitely unlocked. Steven Pienaar combined with Louis Saha, collecting the Frenchman's return pass to accelerate into the area. Rather than shooting, he took the unselfish option and squared the ball for Osman.

Switched from the left flank to the right by Moyes, Pienaar was responsible for many of the cleverer touches. The move made for an intriguing duel, pitting the short, slight South African against Wolves' bulky left-back George Elokobi; it was like an impish winger in rugby teasing a cumbersome lock, relying on skill to combat size.

Yet when Everton came closest, it was with a marvellously effective display of direct football. Leighton Baines, who was being watched by Fabio Capello, directed a diagonal ball towards Saha. The striker controlled the ball on his chest, veered infield and an unleashed a ferocious strike that left the woodwork reverberating as it clipped the bar on its way over.

A case, then, of two points dropped? "I think so," Moyes said. "We created a lot of opportunities and some of our play was very good but we just didn't have a better day at the top end of the pitch.

"Certainly defensively we did a good job. Kevin Doyle was in good form and we kept him really quiet." Indeed, Wolves' attempts at goal had a rarity value. Kevin Foley curled a shot over the bar, but Wolves threatened mainly through a player who is acquiring cult status at Molineux. The raiding right-back, Ronald Zubar, has an unpredictability that can be a burden or a blessing.

It almost proved the latter when he materialised in the six-yard box to glance a header wide from Foley's cross and again when, after linking up well with Doyle, he hammered an effort past the far post.

"I'm delighted with the point," a typically candid McCarthy said. "There was more chance of it being none than three." The threat of relegation is receding, but the Wolves manager's expression isn't changing. "When it's mathematically impossible, I'll get my poker face off."

THE FANS' PLAYER RATINGS AND VERDICT

TIM SPIERS, Observer reader

Wolves were below par but made up for it with bags of effort. The veteran Jody Craddock was outstanding at the back and it was a pity that his example was not followed elsewhere. It was good to keep a clean sheet as it's our defence which has been responsible for our recent climb up the table. I'm sure we have done enough to avoid relegation and this was another important point towards that goal. I've seen some incompetent referees at Molineux this season but this one was especially awful. We got by far the worst of the 50/50 decisions.

NEIL STEELE, SOS1878.co.uk We keep dropping points to teams we should be beating and this was another case in point. Wolves had only one serious attempt at goal during the 90 minutes, whereas we had a couple of gilt-edged chances. Leon Osman wasted a really good opportunity and towards the end Dan Gosling should have scored but could not sort his feet out. I felt the manager David Moyes did not show enough urgency with his substitutions. By the time our three subs came on it was too late to make a difference. We're capable of beating anybody on our day but sadly this wasn't one of them.